eBay Broking their own guidelines with returns after buyer escalates before the time

[overoutlet]

A buyer made a faulty return, items opened and 1 is missing. Upon package delivered, eBay sent us an email " "Please issue a refund by Jul 13, 2020 to close the return".  But on the weekend, On Saturday 11, buyer escalated the return without giving us the opportunity to inspect the return and eBay made a full refund, placed a defect in our account and kept all the FVF and payment processing fees. We also didn't have the opportunity to report this buyer so he will do it again in the future, this way you don't build an healthy community as eBay is thinking they are building.  We have been selling on eBay since 2006 being a top rated for years and paying more than $15K in fees a month and this is the way eBay treats sellers.

[overoutlet]

@brian.t@ebay 

@trinton@ebay

[mam98031]

Oh this is not good.  I'd be pretty upset too.  I see another poster has tagged the guys.  Hopefully they will pop in tomorrow with some additional help.

I'm very sorry this happened to you.  

[fa_8305]

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@overoutlet wrote:

Upon package delivered, eBay sent us an email

"Please issue a refund by Jul 13, 2020 to close the return". 

But on the weekend, On Saturday [July] 11, buyer escalated the return

and eBay made a full refund

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To understand how this is not wrong @overoutlet, you should understand:

1. What does eBay mean by "by".

2. On eBay, which business day is a weekend or a holiday.

To see what eBay means by "by", let's look at a return request:

eBay says if the seller has not responded "by" Jul 11, 2020 that the buyer can ask eBay to step in beginning that same day, Jul 11, 2020. That means Jul 11, 2020 is already TOO LATE for the seller. So on eBay, the "by" date is TOO LATE.

To see which business day is a weekend, pretend to start a refund request or a return request on a Saturday: eBay will show you can ask eBay to step in on Friday. This means:

- Saturday to Monday: Same as Monday

- Tuesday to Thursday: 3 business days

- Friday: Ask eBay to step in

And if Monday is a holiday, then Saturday to Tuesday is the same as Tuesday.

So your Issue a refund "by" Monday, Jul 13, 2020 was already TOO LATE for you. And Saturday, Jul 11, 2020 is the same as too-late Monday, so the buyer was allowed to ask eBay to step in to force a refund. You actually only had until Friday to refund.

Sorry you thought you had more time, but unfortunately, that's what eBay means by "by".

[zamo-zuan]

Typically if it says "by 13th", they wouldn't allow eBay to step in until it's actually the 13th. 

I'd like to note, some reps interpret this differently. I've had some CSR's tell me it needs to be replied to "on the 13th", other reps say "on the 13th they can call in and eBay will assist them". In any case of dispute, it's best to lean on the safe side, and get it handled before the date listed.

With that said, if the customer called in and had the case decided before the date listed on your returns page, eBay should be able to help you out! This happens on occasion, sometimes reps approve it before the return date, but we've never had a case where eBay didn't assist us and remove the defect afterwards!

Good luck!

[overoutlet]

Return arrived on July 09, sellers has 2 business days to inspect the return. Means we have until Monday 13 as per the email on eBay. We called eBay, they told the same too but actually the buyer can escalate a return anytime after showing as delivered, then eBay will automatically refund the buyer. If he would call eBay the same day, they would have received the refund anyway that day.

[overoutlet]

@Anonymous 

brian@ebay 

[mam98031]

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@overoutlet wrote:

@Anonymous 

brian@ebay 

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Just so you know, they aren't typically around on the weekends.

[Anonymous]

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@overoutlet wrote:

A buyer made a faulty return, items opened and 1 is missing. Upon package delivered, eBay sent us an email " "Please issue a refund by Jul 13, 2020 to close the return".  But on the weekend, On Saturday 11, buyer escalated the return without giving us the opportunity to inspect the return and eBay made a full refund, placed a defect in our account and kept all the FVF and payment processing fees. We also didn't have the opportunity to report this buyer so he will do it again in the future, this way you don't build an healthy community as eBay is thinking they are building.  We have been selling on eBay since 2006 being a top rated for years and paying more than $15K in fees a month and this is the way eBay treats sellers.

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Hi @overoutlet, it sounds like you should have had more time to review and refund on your own. If you contact Customer Service they can review the details and take appropriate action on any defects or fees related to this situation.